anyone practising grade 6 2005-07 exam pieces? i found that pieces in part B and C are quite weird....i mean they don't sound really good, and therefore practically harder in my opinion. which pieces have you guys chosen?

Ooh, yes I know exactly what you mean, I am so disappointed with the pieces that you have to choose from. I'm doing A3, which is a bit fiddly but is otherwise OK - it's pretty repetitive though, so I'm already finding it a bore to practise. It is quite pretty though. I also chose B1, Bolero, which I really like, it's fun and not too hard as well. You can use open strings, and there are lots of heavily accented notes and rits which I like. Everything else in B is dull dull dull. C is even worse though, all three pieces are strange and frankly sound a bit rubbish! If the CD is EVER published, I'm going to have a listen to all the alternatives, hopefully there will be something bearable there. </whinge>

The C list is generally made up of 20th century works (some composers still living) and if you're not familiar with, or particularly into modern repertoire, it can prove to be a bit heavy going.

The lists are chosen the way they are to cover the three main areas of the classical repertoire:
A baroque and pre-1800
B early classical and stretches well into the romantic era
C mostly 20th century works

By doing this the candidate will be playing music in a broad range of styles and therefore not giving a one-track view of their playing to the examiner.

Some of the really modern works don't go down very well with the candidates, but if it's any consolation a lot of professional violinists (who are having to teach these pieces and hear them all day long) don't always like them either.

Does anyone know what the logic was behind the old system?

I know when I was last doing violin and piano exams, the exam booklet had two lists - A and B - and you had to play either A1 and A2, or B1 and B2, along with A3 OR B3 OR one of the alternative pieces. Sometime between me stopping violin lessons after school and coming back to music lessons and exams it all changed. Did the woodwind syllabuses used to be different to?

Hi people

My daugther played the Allegro (Vivaldi), The Larghetto (Dvorak) and the Canzonetta (Walton). I loved the vivaldi - quick and tuneful. I confess to hating the Dvorak on first playing, but when she got it sorted I grew to love it. She played at a concert with 5 other young players and it was mournful and moving. The Walton I loved immediately although my cats were running for cover while she sorted out the 5th position stuff.

However, I can only play the first two so I cannot comment about the squeaks of higher notes in the Walton And she's only 11!

We bought the CD that supports the music and there are some great pieces on there. Fibich's Allegro is terrific. Changes in colour, volume, structure - it's great.

I quite like new and odd music nowadays, having been a Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli addict for many years. So even old dogs....I won't go there.

There is a lot of good music in the grade 6 lists - but some of it requires a bit more effort. Anybody attempting it gets my admiration - I just play for fun.

Jon

my teacher has chosen A2(Leduc), B3（Fibich) and C2(Lee Burswold) for me, which she said are the easier pieces in comparison. i agree with her, but other pieces sounds better for me like vivaldi's and Bolero by Bohm. they seem really hard to play, like the bowing has to be really strong, and a piece in part C has so many harmonic notes, but they are great! i bought the CD, i reckon all the alternatives are much better choices!!!!!! for all A, B and C!! i wonder where can i find those pieces....which book has those music? does anyone know??

There is a list of the pieces and the books at the bottom of the front page of the abrsm book. musicroom.com will probably have them all. I didn't know that the CD had come out - where did you get it? Also, it might be better to choose pieces that you actually like, because you will enjoy playing them and practise more. Bolero is hard at first, but after a couple of lessons I got the hang of it.

the CD is actually out for quite a long time.....i bought it in hong kong though, i saw it in the UK as well. u can also buy it in the abrsm publishing website

I played A1: Canzona Seconda by Frescobaldi, which was quite easy. However, the difficult part is the changing moods all over. Luckily I got my vibratos nicely done in the Adagio parts and brought out a loud and marcato-like playing in the Allegro parts, and got 29/30. I played B3: Fibich, which was very nice indeed. Elegant and rich in tone.

Finally I played C2. It requires plenty of vibrato and accurate changing of positions. You really have to make sure the tone is warm and full in this piece.

Well, I hope I gave you some ideas. Good luck!B)

I'm doing Allegro (Vivaldi), Bolero (Bohm) and the Blues (Lee Burswold). I really love playing the Lee Burswold piece. I'm going to seek out more of his work... any suggestions?